Discussion

Bauer Revisited

Uh Oh! Michael Bauer today trashed Postrio in the Chron. Something or someone must really have rubbed him the wrong way...he even complained that his grilled calamari had only ONE char mark on it. If he has the guts to take on Wolfy Puck, who is next? Wouldn't it be interesting to know what REALLY happened?

I saw that. Ouch. Maybe Mikey B was in a bad mood. I remember he gave Bistro Liason a bad review when they first opened, first he did not like the decor(which is quite nice and cosy). Then the fool ordered mussels which he stated he doesn't even like and put them down. Why order something you don't like.

We do this thing that when he gives a place a bad review we go there the next week to spite him. And when we ate at Bistro Liason we had a great meal. So I'm trying Postrio next.

The problem isn't the places Bauer dislikes. It's the whole world of restaurants he'll never venture into, because they don't bow and scrape to him or cost enough. He should take a cue from Ruth Reichl who took away Le Cirque's star precisely because the Bauers of the world are treated like royalty when the rest of us can't get served.

I sent him a friendly Chron reader diatribe after his latest rehashed 100 best came out (and since he took over the Chron mag and started filling it with $75 wines you can serve at home with foie gras and fresh lobster), accusing him of ignoring the fantastic ethnic divesity and current economy of the Bay Area. His reply essentially was "Let them eat cake."

But don't get me started. Just ignore the poor fool. He'll never understand combing the Mission for the perfect taco or the joys of King of Thai Noodle #3.

Thank you so much for confirming what has irked me since I moved here in '99. The Chron food section's elitism is insufferable, enough that I barely read it anymore. I think it speaks volumes about the staff's cosmopolitan insecurities that its newest columnist writes in, and about, London.